Cisco Networking Academy Conference and awards night Sri Lanka 2016 was held at the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) Metro Campus in November 2016. The conference focused on Cisco Networking Academy Program updates and much more. New Cisco Networking Academy offering and how to adopt, Meeting industry expertise in Sri Lanka, Technical Breakout Sessions lead by regional Cisco team and  Curriculum hot topics were the key areas of the conference.  The Awards evening with dinner was held at Colombo Hilton. Ms. Manique Gunaratne of The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon Cisco Academy represented the conference.

 

Picture description for vision impaired persons:

1 Cisco trainers.

2 At the conference.

3 Award night at Hilton Colombo.

4 Awards night at Hilton with Kalhari

 

Manique Gunaratne

Member – Asia Pacific Women with Disability United

 

The Sri Lanka Chapter of the Internet Society implemented “Beyond the Reach” project to train vision impaired persons on “Surfing the internet”. The Training was conducted by Ms. Manique Gunaratne of The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon ICT Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities. A group of vision impaired persons together with few sighted persons from Uva Province were trained at this residential training programme held at the Uva Management Development Centre in Badulla. The programme was inaugurated by the Governor of the Uva Province, Mr. N.P. Jayasinghe. Representatives for the Governor’s Office, University of Uva, Department of Social Services, Internet Society and media were present at the inauguration. President, Ms. Sagarika Wickramasekara, Secretary, Mr. Maheeswara Kirindigoda, Assistant Secretary, Mr. Minuwan Deshapriya and Exco Member, Imesha Deshapriya from the Internet Society did a splendid task to make “Beyond the Reach” a real success.

 

Picture descriptions for vision impaired persons:

1 Day 1 ISOC meeting.

2 Day 1 introduction of the participants.

3 Day 1 training session.

4 Day 2 meeting with members from SLIIT and from India.

5 Day 2 training.

6 Day 3 participants with the Trainer.

7 Day 3 group photograph with the Governer.

8 Day 3 inaguration head table.

9 Day 3 speech by Manique.

10 Day 3 tea with the invitees.

11 Day 3 lighting of the oil lamp.

12 Day 3 national anthem.

13 Day 3 training.

14 Day 4 training.

15 Day 5 special appreciation to Manique by ISOC.

16 Day 5 group photograph with the certificates.

17 Day 5 closing remarks by Manique.

18 Day 5 handing over the certificates by Manique.

19 Day 5 participants with Manique.

20 Day 5 training.

 

Manique Gunaratne

Viber: 0094779571918

 

The World University Services of Canada (WUSC) under the Asset (Advancing special skills for economic transformation) Project organized “The National ICT Networking Session” at the National Chamber of Commerce in September 2016. The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon ICT Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities is also a partner of the Asset Project to work with WUSC in relation to ICT for persons with disabilities. Ms. Manique Gunaratne participated at this event to be a part of this important networking and B2B meeting. The event brought together those involved in the ICT sector from Mannar, Puttalam, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara, Matara and Hambantota as well as in Colombo.

This event was supported by ICT Skills Sector Council, ICTA, FITIS, SLASSCOM & University of Colombo School of Computing.

The Main Objectives of this Seminar / B2B meeting was to:

Connect the ICT related SMEs from the districts with Colombo &  Kandy based ICT companies for business ventures and partnerships.

Explore ways to create more employment opportunities for youth in the ICT sectors in the districts.

To create regional and national level ICT networks and partnerships.

 

Picture descriptions for vision impaired persons:

Manique at the conference.

Manique Gunaratne

Face Book – Manique Gunaratne

 

In April 2013 The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon ICT Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities started an I.C.T. training course with the Curtin University of technology in Australia and the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (S L I I T). It is an online course. Since 2009 to date the centre has trained many persons with diverse disabilities in I.C.t. skills. EFC selected 10 very good trainees to do the above course. It is named Information Technology Essentials (I.T.E.). Mr. Anuradha Jayakody a senior Lecturer from S L I I T does the lecturing at the I.C.t. Training Centre at the employers’ Federation of Ceylon.

 

Picture description for vision impaired persons:

Group photograph of the Cisco team.

 

Manique Gunaratne

Mobile – 0094779571918

 

The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon awarded two scholarships for two vision impaired university students in September 2016. Mr. S. Prathepan from University of Jaffna and Ms. Rasika Ratnayake from University of Peradeniya were selected for this scholarship. These two vision  impaired persons are following the ICT training at The Employers’ Federation of  Ceylon, ICT Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities under the leadership  of Ms. Manique Gunaratne. The scholarships were sponsored by CIC Educational & Charitable Trust. The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon wishes them all the success for their studies.

 

Picture descriptions for vision impaired persons:

1 Prathepan

2 Rasika

 

Manique Gunaratne

CISCO International Trainer for I T E (Information Technology Essentials)

 

Since its inception in 2001, the Network on Disability of the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) has taken strides, notably in the fields of ICT training, language and skills training and economic empowerment. The ICT Training Centre of the EFC which was launched in 2009 with the support of the International Labour Organization (ILO) is the nucleus of the Network on Disability.  Embracing the vision of ‘productive employment through social harmony’, its objective is to develop the employability skills of persons with diverse disabilities in the country.

Under the guidance of Ms. Manique Gunaratne, 84 persons with diverse disabilities including school leavers, job seekers, undergraduates and those employed from all corners of the Island have successfully completed a course of study in Microsoft Word.

The Training Centre fully equipped with devices specially designed for persons with disabilities and other software, also collaborates with Curtin University of Technology in Australia and SLIIT (Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology) Malabe. The programs are also recognized by the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) and within the EFC membership which consists of 640 companies.

The ICT Training Centre receiving the CISCO Academy status in 2014 is the latest feather in its cap. This is a milestone of the ICT Training Centre as it is the only training centre in the country which trains people with diverse disabilities in CISCO courses. CISCO is a globally recognized IT qualification.

Mr. Tharidu Rajamanthri (vision impaired) and Mr. Ranga Madusanka (vision impaired) were the successful candidates for the latest batch which successfully completed Microsoft Word.

 

Picture descriptions for vision impaired persons:

Manique, Tharidu and Ranga

 

Manique Gunaratne

National Campaigner for Rights of Women with Disabilities – Raising Our Voices for Us

 

Since its inception in 2001, the Network on Disability of the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) has taken strides, notably in the fields of ICT training, language and skills training and economic empowerment. The ICT Training Centre of the EFC which was launched in 2009 with the support of the International Labour Organization (ILO) is the nucleus of the Network on Disability.  Embracing the vision of ‘productive employment through social harmony’, its objective is to develop the employability skills of persons with diverse disabilities in the country.

Under the guidance of Ms. Manique Gunaratne, it has benefited 170 persons with diverse disabilities to date including school leavers, job seekers, undergraduates and those employed from all corners of the Island.

The Training Centre fully equipped with devices specially designed for persons with disabilities and other software, also collaborates with Curtin University of Technology in Australia and SLIIT (Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology) Malabe. The programs are also recognized by the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) and within the EFC membership which consists of 640 companies.

The ICT Training Centre receiving the CISCO Academy status in 2014 is the latest feather in its cap. This is a milestone of the ICT Training Centre as it is the only training centre in the country which trains people with diverse disabilities in CISCO courses. CISCO is a globally recognized IT qualification.

The ICT Training Centre started a course of study in Use of Internet with a new batch of trainees with 8 vision impaired persons. Up to date EFC has trained 30 vision impaired persons on Use of Internet.

 

Picture descriptions:

1 Ms. Manique Gunaratne, Mr. Tharidu Rajamanthri, Ms. Harshi Mendis, Mr. Pream Kumar, Ms. Sanali Senanayake, Mr. Chandana De Silva, Mr. Sayed Ahamed and Mr. Jeewan Lilaratne.

2 Mr. S. Prathepan

Manique Gunaratne

Officer in Charge of ICT Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities at The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon

 

The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon ICT Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities trains persons with diverse disabilities on technology and various other skills developments. It is very important for persons with disabilities to develop their ICT skills to work equally capable as persons with not yet with a disability. The new batch of trainees will be trained on Microsoft Word under the guidance of Ms. Manique Gunaratne. Up to date 165 persons with diverse disabilities have been trained on Microsoft Word at this training centre. The new batch of students are:

Mr. Kalana Paulis (vision impaired) (staff DFCC Bank), Mr. Rajinda Ekanayake (vision impaired), Mr. Tharuka Fernando (vision impaired), Mr. Chamila Suranga (physical disability) and Ms. Rasika Ratnayake (vision impaired) (student, University of Peradeniya).

 

Picture descriptions:

1 Manique, Kalama, Rajinda, Tharuka and Chamila.

2 Rasika.

(Honoured, Deshabandu) Ms. H.K. Manique Gunaratne

 

Cisco Sri Lanka conducted the CCNA 6.0 bridging course supporting workshop at Cisco Office in June 2016. All instructors in Cisco Academies participated for this fruitful programme. The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon ICT Training Centre is a Cisco Academy which conducts Information Technology Essentials (ITE) and CCNA (Cisco Computer Network Associates) courses for persons with diverse disabilities. Ms. Manique Gunaratne from The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon ICT Training Centre also participated to upgrade the knowledge in order to keep align with the new syllabus.

 

Manique Gunaratne

Mobile – 0094779571918